Art of and apparatus for cooling and condensing gasolnne or light vapors



A. A. WEHR. ART OF AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND COND'ENSING GASOLENE 0R LIGHT VAPORS. APPLICATION HLED JULYZ. 1919.

1,340,427, I Patented May 18, 1920;

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Specification of Letters latent.

Patented. May 18, 1920.

Application filed July 2, 1919. Serial No. 808,098;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baden, in the county of Beaver and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Art of and and Condensing Gasolene or Light Vapors, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Natural gas frequently carries light 011s, particularly gasolene and hydrocarbons of the same group, and this invention relates to the separating of the light oils or gasolene from this gas.

- In the processes commonly employed for thispurpose, high pressures are used in the condensers that areiemployed', and the use of these high pressures is open to many objections.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a system of condensing and cooling the gas by which a relatively low pressure of, say 125 pounds, may be used instead of using the ordinary pressure of 250 pounds, thus doing away not only with the danger of using these extremely high pressures, but as a matter of fact permitting the collection of a greater amount of the light hydrocarbons than is possible by the old methods in use at the present time.

A further object of my invention is to provide an apparatus for the purpose described so constructed that a .certain amount of gas and gasolene under a relatively high pressure is suddenly expanded in a freezing chamber, this sudden expansion, of course, greatly reducing the temperature within the chamber, the apparatus being further so constructed as to provide cooling coils within the chamber through which gas to be cooled is passed, thus causing a great cooling and condensation of this gas, this cooled and condensed gas being thence passed into an accumulating tank where the liquid is accumulated and the remaining vapor' drawn off to be further acted upon.

A further object is to provide a construction whereby all of the gasolene held in storage may be kept under freezing temperature, thus preventing evaporation of the liquid gasolene.

A further object is toprovide a mecha-v nism to the end described which isvery cheap, easy to handle, and comprises ma- AUs'rIN A. Warm,-

chinery ordinarily found in all gasolene plants, thus doing away with the necessity:

of installing any extra machinery. vMy invention is illustrated in the accom panying drawings, wherein The figure is a diagrammatic sectional view of my apparatus.

In-this drawing I have illustrateddiagrammatically a pipe 10 leading from a compressor 11, this compressor being of the usual type and leading into the top of an accumulator tank 12. There is the usual vacuum line 9 leading from the well to the compressor,- ,andthe. pipe 10 is to be surrounded between the comprexor'll and the tank 12 with a cooling coil shown conventionally' in the drawingand designated 10. Leading from the lower portion of the tank 12 is a pipe 13 which extends upward through the top of the 'tankand is there connected to a pipe let-having in its length a cut off valve 15. i This pipe 14 opens into a cooler 16 comprising a cylindrical, hollow shell having any desired length and being many times the diameter of the pipe 14. From the opposite end of this shell or cooler 16 extends a pipe 17 which leads into a stock tank 18, from which the air has been I exhausted.

Leading from the upper end of the tank 12 and passing through a stufling box 19 in the end of the cylinder 16 is a pipe 20 which extends longitudinall through the tank16 and is bent upon itse a plurality of times,.,

and which eventually passes out throu h a stufiing box 21 in the cylinder 16, and 0m thence leads, as by the pipe 22, to the main accumulating tank 23, into the to of which the pipe 22 discharges. From t e top of this tank 23 leads a pipe 24, from which dry gas may be taken for power after the gaso lene has been taken from the gas, in other words the tanks 12 -and,23 act as separators separating the li uid gasolene condensed from the gas, leaving dry as.

In tank 23 all the aso ene is separated from the dry gas. he dry as passes through the line 24 to beused or ower, but the gasolene is transferred throug pipe line 25 to the stock tank 18 and there kept under freezing temperature. This is caused by the release of gasolene from tank 12 through lines 13 and l iinto the cooler 16 by pipe 17 to the stock tank 18 which is kept under a vacuum by the pipe line 26 and which extendsfrom the tank 18 tracted.

It is to be understood that the construc tion which I have; illustrated in the drawing is diagrammatically shown, and ,that I have not attemptedto-illustrate all the detrils of an installation of this character, as i is obvious that these details will be modifiedjn different ways by the exigencies of any particular situation. The general operation of the mechanismwill be obvious to thosjeskilled in the art. The valve 15 is intended to' be only partly opened, and in this QaseHthe 'Vacuum in the stock tank 18 causes gas and gasolene to be taken from the first accumulator tank 12 under a relatively high pressure,- and this as and gasolene expandin Within the reIatiVely large infer 16 causes a freezing temta yl i peji alture to be produced within this cylinderlG. Assuming that the vapor is very highly, compressed, as for instance, has a pressure of 125 pounds to the square inch when it passes into the first collection tank pressure is reduced to about 5 pounds or as low a pressure as can be ob tained; The dry, gas leaves the first collec tiiddtank by means of the'pipe 20 and in ts 'c1rc1i1tous ccurse through the cooler 16, this, dry gas is cooled or frozen, the

gasolenecondensed, and the gasolene is discharged into the accumulating tank 23 while' the remaining gas is taken oil" by the pipe 24; to' be otherwise used. It will be understood that the tank 12 is to be surrou'n'dedby some cooling agent, as for instance, cooling coils or waterso that a certain amount of the gasolene is collected in the tank 12 and a further and greater condensation is produced in the cooler 16 so as to cause the discharge of the liquid gasoleneinto the accumulating tank 23.

It will be seen.that the apparatus which I have devised for this purpose is very si mple'and such as is ordlnarily found in gasolene manufacturing plants, but that by allowing the highly compressed vapor and gasolene to expand within. the relatively largechamber or cylinder 16, that I secure an intense cold which will cause the condensation of the gasolene and its precipitation in tank 23. A far greater condensation is produced bypassing the relatively dry gas through the tank 16 and submitting it. to the intense cold therein than can possibly be produced by cooling it by water or co air, Inactual pract1ce,lfind tha ,byusing' my cooler -I can 'abstract as relatively larger chamber -to, t ereby much gasolene at 125 pounds pressure as can be abstracted b the old method at 250 pounds pressure. furthermore, I can collect a greater amount of the light hydra carbons than is possible by'methods m' use at the present time, and more than this, I

eliminate the great, danger which is present where extreme high pressures are. used. Again, I can keep all of the gasolene so made in storage under freezing temperature and this saves loss by evaporation, a

frozen gasolene and gas keeps the. gasolene I in the stock tank frozen at-alltimes l,

It is to be noted that with my, construc-v tion I entirely do away with the necessityof' using compressed air, and thus do away with the necessity of installingmachinery, separate from the gasolene compressor. The, installation of air compressing machineryis very expensive and means much more wear and tear on the fuel mechanism. Furthermore, air is not successful unless am: monia is used, and this is a great expense. Further, it. is diflicult to keep the, aircompressing mechanism in proper working order and the action (if ammonia on t e coils soon eats them up, unlesscopper co are installed, and this is very, expensive,

the wor and .itjsonly necessary regulate the valve 15, and this ordinari y. not have to be touched for a weeka ,atime. *The tank 12 in actual practice wil by 36, and .tank23 will 3d,. by 96 The, storage tank, 18 will hol .ordinaril a With 111 mechanism, one machine does all thousand gallons. It will be obvious 0m 7 these dimensions that the drawing is purely diagrammatic in character- Asbefore remarked, I do not-wish to be limited, to the particular mechanism shown as this ispurely illustrative otrthe type of apparatuswhich I- deslgn to use and, the method by; which I secure the condensation of{he;.gas.

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light oils from vapor, a step whi ch cons sts in compressingthe vapor 1l'1,&Xl-8QQ11II111I& tor .chamber and thereby se arating a cert tain portion ofiliquid from t evapor, caus= ns-= s mi p rt n d t e vapor. t -id chamber and under relatively high com; pression' tobecome 'suddenlygex' ended inda su denly q usa v 12 1. In theartof producing gasolene rand e, pressure and, cause, intense 18,0

cold within the chamber, and conducting the remainder of the vapor from said accumulatorv chamber through said cooler chamber to thereby cause the condensation lecting tank tothereby condense a certain portion of the vapor, withdrawing a certain portion of the vapor and liquid from this tank, and suddenly expanding it in a chambed to produce an intense cold in the chamber, conducting the remainder of the vapor through said chamber to thereby cool and condense said conducted vapor and discharging the product into an accumulating tank and recompressing the expanded vapor from said cooling chamber and discharging it into said collecting tank.

3. An apparatus for the production of gasolene and other light oils from natural gas or other vapor including an accumulating tank, acompressor, means for conducting gas from the compressor into the accumulating tank, a cooler comprising a relatively large chamber into which compressed gas is conducted from said accumulating tank, a stock tank connected to a source of vacuum, a pipe leading from the cooler into said stock tank, a pipe leading'from the accumulator tank into the cooler and passing in a circuitous course through the cooler and out of the same, a second accumulating tank into which the last named pipe discharges,

and means for conducting the condensed gasolene from the second accumulator tank to the stock tank and for conducting away the dr Vapors from said second named accumulator tank.

4:. An apparatus for the production of gasolene and other light oils from natural gas and other vaporsincluding an accumulating tank, a compressor connected to a source of gas and discharging compressed gas into the accumulator tank, a cooler'comprising a relatively large chamber, a pipe leading from the lower portion of the accumulator tank into said cooler and having a valve discharging the gas and gasolene under pressure into said chamber where it may expand, a stock tank, a pipe leading from the cooler and discharging into the stock tank a pipe leading from the stock tank back to the inlet side of the compressor, a second accumulator tank, a cooling coil connected to the first accumulator tank to receive dry gas therefrom, a pipe into which the cooling coil discharges, said pipe discharging into the second named accumulator tank, a pipe leading from the second accumulator 'tank to discharge dry gas therefrom, and a pipe for carrying liquefied gasolene from the second accumulator tank into said stock tank.

In testimony'whereof I hereunto affix my.

signature in the present of two witnesses.

AUSTIN A. WEHR. Witnesses:

Cms. Wnmz, HENRY BLANK. 

